


SleepWalker

by LadySilverRaven



Category: Naruto
Genre: Character Death, Gore, Horror, Implied Child Abuse, Other, Psychological Horror, Reincarnation, Sleep Walking, Sweet little sisters, There is no actual self harm or child abuse though, implied self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:28:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27173108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySilverRaven/pseuds/LadySilverRaven
Summary: After years of peaceful dreams, grizzly nightmares flash under his eyelids as he sleeps, far gorier then when he was a small child. Only this time, instead of fading away into smoke, they become more vivid to the point his body carries the marks. Only the wounds covering his body are the least of his problems…Rated M for a reason, gore, horror, death. Happy Halloween.





	SleepWalker

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, please read the AN at the end of this! It’s long, but it kind of fills you in on where I’ve been, and everything else. Thanks in advance!

It was late when he awoke, the world outside of his bedroom fast asleep, oblivious to him as he fought to pull his mind from the horrors he had just witnessed. Pressing the heel of his palms into his eyes, he could still feel a stickiness coating them despite its absence. A metallic smell filling his senses as he choked back bile.

It had been so long since he last had a nightmare like this. But alas, here he was, struggling to keep himself together as the horrible visions from his dream began to slowly fade. He knew tonight had felt off. The sense of dread would not release him as he had gotten ready for bed and tucked his little sisters into theirs. As his heart began to slow, he tried to think of anything that could have attributed to this dream.

He hadn’t been particularly stressed more then usual, and no one in his family was facing any health issues. The usual stressors that brought on nightmares. Part of him waited for the light bulb moment to happen, to show him why these gory visions decided to show themselves again, but nothing came. The last time was thanks to a horrifying car wreck he had been in as a small child, the things he had seen then obviously had gotten to his young eyes. So why now?

“Aniki?” The sleepy voice of one of his sisters, Misaki, caught his attention, startling him as he spun from his spot on his bed to see her tiredly rubbing at her eyes in his doorway. “I thought I heard you yelling…”

A shaky breath left him as he tried to smile reassuringly, twisting himself to face her more clearly.

“Forgive me…It was just a bad dream; I didn’t wake the other’s, did I?”

He watched as she shook her head, black hair swishing around her face as she walked bleary eyed towards her brother’s bed.

“I think their all asleep still…”

Unable to find his voice, he gave a single nod as she walked farther into his room before collapsing on the foot of his bed. Far too tired to make her way back to her own room to sleep. With a small up turn of his lips, he readjusted his sister, letting her sleep properly in the bed before tucking the blankets around her to keep her warm.

* * *

It was getting worse, so much fucking worse. It had been three days since the nightmares began, and each time he closed his eyes for the night, he was absolutely terrified. No matter how stress free he felt his life was, something was triggering him to have nightmares again.

Last night he had awoken with a searing pain in his left thigh, enough for him to scream out and wake his family. His parents had opened his door just as he moved his sleeping pants, blood already soaking through the fabric and dripping down from a deep gash on his leg. They hadn’t believed him when he said he had been asleep, demanding to know where the knife he used on himself was.

They truly thought he had done this to himself. He had never entertained the idea, he felt he had no reason too. His mother had remained at the house with his little sisters as his father took him to the hospital. If his father hadn’t been so angry with him, he wouldn’t have minded the man asking if he were depressed. If he just felt too embarrassed to mention anything to his mother of himself. Instead the man had lost his temper and demanded answers, so both remained silent as the wound was stitched closed, the doctor giving him mild pain medication to make it easier for him to go back to sleep once home.

He had been allowed to stay home for the day from school, to stay off his leg, and was currently left to watch over his little sisters now that they had returned from elementary. Both parents worked, it was needed with how many children there were, so he was given the time to prepare before facing his folks for the night.

“Aniki, I want to go play!” His youngest sister’s face, Yuki, was covered in a pout, her eyes quietly begging him to release her from her homework.

“You haven’t finished yet; you can play all you want after.” He kept his voice soft, but firm as he spoke, knowing better then to give in with the girl.

All of them had him wrapped around their finger, but this was one thing he wouldn’t relent on, and has never relented on with them. With a defeated groan leaving her as she laid half on the table, he smiled, suddenly seeing the familiar form of a young boy doing much the same at a very different kitchen table.

Stilling, ice flushed through his veins at the image. That had been the little boy from his nightmares he’d occasionally see. Shaking himself in an attempt to get rid of the boys’ face pouting to him, he stood carefully as he made his way to the kitchen sink.

“Aniki…are you ok?” Unmei, one of his little sisters, but the eldest out of the girls’ voice called out to him, having seen the color drain from his face.

“Yes…I’m just still feeling unwell from last night…” Turning on the faucet, he bent down to splash water onto his face, attempting to wash away the memory of the boys’ face.

* * *

Only two nights later, and his ribs were broken. Not bad thankfully, but it was enough to put more strain on his already sore and beaten body. His parents still believed he was hurting himself somehow. Though, how he was able to break his ribs in a way that made it seem like he was thrown into a wall was mind boggling.

He gave up quickly on trying to get them to see something was seriously wrong. His body was covered in bruises, his leg still hurt, what with the stitches almost ripping in the night as he thrashed about. He looked as if his family were abusing him, and he refused all attempts to go to the hospital. He wanted to wait until most of the visible injuries healed, but it seemed like that might not be an option anymore.

He was sleep walking; his parents woke him after he had tripped over the trash can in the middle of the night. His was unbelievably exhausted at this point. Not matter how long he tried to stay awake, he always fell asleep. And no matter how little he slept that nightmare always came back, as did his new injuries. As much as he wanted to put off another trip to the hospital, it looked more and more like one would be needed. Hissing out a pained sigh in an attempt to release his annoyance, he made his way downstairs to the living room. Plopping himself onto the couch, though carefully as to not hurt himself more, he turned on the tv to try and distract himself. He refused school, the last thing he wanted was to have a teacher see him and think he was being abused, and to call the police.

Laying back as comfortably as he could, he flipped through the channels before stopping on the news. He was home alone, his sister’s at school, and both parents at work. He should feel comfortable enough sleeping with no one around, all the doors and windows were locked, so the chances of him leaving the house if he slept walked were incredibly slim.

But still, the growing dread of his dream stopped him from closing his eyes for too long as the meteorologist foretold that week’s weather. He was afraid of what he’d wake up too. The images bothered him a little less now, though when new details showed themselves, he did feel a little nauseated. Breathing deeply, he laid his head against the back of the couch, looking at the speckled ceiling above him.

One of his friends he had spoken too, without telling too much on what his dreams contained, mentioned the possibility of reincarnation. He was never one to really entertain such things, he just felt like it was pointless. Wondering if there was anything after death. He’d much rather focus on the here and now of life then what may or may not come after. But the idea made a slim bit of sense to him the more he thought on it.

There had been stories of people claiming to remember past lives, some even going as far as finding their missing bodies and telling people things only the deceased would know. He had always viewed it as some kind of luck, but there were those few cases he had heard about that still boggled his mind. Could he be remembering a past life?

“One fucked up life then…” His voice was soft as he spoke to no one in particular.

What in the world would have led him to do such things in his life? He didn’t know, and a small part of him didn’t want to know. Placing a hand against his stomach, he felt as if a ball were slowly forming there, the sense of impending doom growing stronger as he entertained this line of thought. He had no idea what was happening, but he felt as if something bad was going to happen.

* * *

“Aniki, your pulling my hair!”

A sigh left him at Misaki’s wailing. He had been trying to braid her hair for her, but she wasn’t wanting to hold still any.

“I’m not pulling…you need to hold still for me, this would be over much sooner if you did.”

She gave another unsatisfied whine as her bottom lip jutted out, a small smile pulling at his lips as he made her face forward again. It was the nightly ritual, have his sister’s bathe before bed, help them brush their teeth and braid their hair so it didn’t tangle during the night. The others were already done, telling their parents good night as they made sure their school clothes were laid out for the next morning.

“Come on, mom and dad don’t want you up any later. You’re gonna get aniki into trouble.” Aimi, second eldest out of the girls stuck her head into the bathroom as she spoke, giving the youngest a stern look.

Hearing Yuki gasp, he twisted his body as her head whipped to the side towards their sister, pinching his face as he tried not to tug on her hair as he finally finished one of two braids.

“I’m not trying to-!”

“Well then get a move on.” Giving Aimi a look as she tried to hurry their sister, he saw her shrug as she left the doorway, sighing as Yuki lowered her head.

“Am I getting you into trouble…?” Feeling his chest squeeze as he placed the tie around the end of the braid, he grabbed his sister by the shoulders and faced her to him.

“You’re not getting me in trouble, ignore her. You know how she gets when she’s tired.”

He pushed a large smile onto his face, hopeful it would help lighten her mood as she peeked up at him. Grabbing the hem of her night shirt, Yuki worried her lip with her teeth.

“Mommy and daddy have been mad at you a lot.”

He couldn’t stop the sigh that left him, lowering his head to place himself more onto her level.

“They have…but it’s not anything you’ve done, I promise.”

“Is it your bad dreams?”

He was aware all of his sisters knew of them at this point, but to hear his youngest sister bring it up made an uncomfortable knot form in his stomach. He hoped her room was far enough down the hall she wouldn’t have heard his screams in the night.

“Sort of. Come on, lets get your hair finished so we can get you into bed.” He kissed her forehead and stood before she could protest.

He didn’t want her asking questions. She somehow knew if you weren’t telling her everything, and she would hound you for days, weeks even until you finally broke. Hiding surprises from her were the worst. She held still for the last braid, allowing him to finish quickly and send her off to her room so he could clean the bathroom.

Once the floor and sink were dried, he walked the same path he always took to his sister’s rooms, telling each good night with a kiss to the head. He had been doing this for years. His parents weren’t always home due to working double shifts often, so he was left to raise his sister’s when his parents weren’t able too.

“Aniki, I’m not sleepy yet!” Yuki spoke hushed, her large eyes staring up to him pleadingly, silently asking if she could stay up later.

“I see that.” He couldn’t help but smile as he tucked the sheets around her better, his parents not having done it the way she liked. “But you need to try, or else your going to be upset when I wake you for school tomorrow.”

“No, I wont! What if I play in bed, very quiet?”

He heaved a sigh, looking down to his sister with an unimpressed look. He felt bad, seeing her face fall and her eyes cast down to her hands bunched on her chest. But he knew she would be much more unhappy come morning getting a full night’s sleep.

“I’ll play with you all you want after school tomorrow, no work sheets as the other’s do homework, alright?” He watched as her eyes shone while she flashed him a smile.

It was incredibly rare she didn’t have to do her little work sheets he’d make for her, she having felt left out when he’d give the others attention to help with their homework. It was a way to keep her included, and she surprisingly was all for the work usually.

“But you have to go to sleep, ok?”

“I will! Good night aniki!” Yuki snuggled herself into her blankets, giggling as he gave her head a light pat while he stood.

Leaving her room and closing her bedroom door behind himself, he stopped in his place, both of his parents waiting for him in the hall. Their eyes watched him, looking him over as if to make sure it was really him.

“I’ll see you in the morning…” His voice was low to make sure Yuki didn’t hear the dislike as he spoke.

The past several days his parents had been acting as if he were a stain, all because of his dreams. As he turned to go to his room, his father’s voice rang out, far louder then he would have cared for.

“Lock your door tonight. I don’t want you wondering the house again…” His father’s voice was far too loud for his liking, knowing Misaki would have heard the comment.

Clenching his teeth together, he walked from his parents without a word. Making it to his room he closed his door a little firmer than he knew he should, considering the time. He stood there a moment, wanting to leave the door as is, a sign of rebellion to his parents. But red flags flashed in his mind, reminding him of his sleep walking. What if he wondered into his sister’s rooms and scared them?

He shuddered, reaching back and locking his doorknob without a second thought before going towards his bed. Sitting onto top of his sheets, he laid back, eyes immediately drawn to the full moon shinning into his darkened room. The night had always filled him with such peace before.

The noise of the city died down, the streets emptied, the world just slowed and let him breathe freely. Now it filled his belly with dread, anxiety causing his pulse to quicken no matter how hard he fought to slow his breathing. He stared unblinking into the moon, a chill crawling through his bones despite the warm night.

“If I didn’t know any better…I would say your giving me these messed up dreams.”

It was a silly thought as he laid there waiting, holding his breathe as if waiting for the moon to respond back. Once his lungs began to ache, he let a woosh of air leave him before breathing in deep. He counted to three slowly before releasing the air from his lungs, eyes never leaving the orb in the sky. Tonight, was the night he wouldn’t have that nightmare he told himself. It was his body, it was under his control, he would prove that to both himself and his parents.

* * *

Blood coated his hands, hot and sticky as he watched how the moon light shown off as he twisted his hands this way and that. It was everywhere, not just on his person. Soaking into the floor, dripping from some unseen source, painting everything an eerie red. Despite the heat created from the liquid, he felt frozen. It was hard not to when you were staring at what was once living, breathing people.

Now they could hardly be called bodies, just pieces of flesh and meat strewn across the ground in a messy trail. He hadn’t even been aware of what was happening, barely registering as he could feel the blade he held sunk and sliced into once breathing bags of flesh. Bile threatened to climb his throat at the thought, a harsh swallow pushing it back down as he sucked in a breath.

He felt the need to rush, quicken his pace. But as he began stepping over the corpses, feet squishing and slipping on innards and fat, he was still slow. He was dreaming, a part of him knew this. But it still felt so real, oddly more so then he thought it would. He never saw another person while they were alive here, just the ring of red he existed within moving over more and more bodies as he walked into never ending darkness. He felt numbed, the longer he walked.

With the sheer amount of death growing around him, he felt a weight settle and grow in his belly. Was he not the one causing all of this? He felt as if he was responsible, but he wasn’t entirely sure at this point. After all, he could feel his hands holding a blade, sinking into bodies, yet he never saw it happen.

Stepping over a mass of tangled limbs and entrails, the bodies stopped. Lifting his face to look ahead, curious to what may lay before him, he could see the blood stretched farther until faint figures could be seen. They weren’t laying on the ground broken from what he could make out, they were sitting.

With hope faintly tugging at his heart, forgetting what his nightmares usually held, he sprinted forward without warning, closing the dark distance between himself and the figures until their backs entered his vision. He slowed, watching as they turned with looks of horror crossing their faces. They didn’t look familiar, but the terror and recognition in their eyes were clear as day.

This was new. While what he saw in his dreams were usually pretty hazy normally, he never remembered this moment as it was currently playing out. He never saw this couples faces before, always just their backs. It could be his mind was adding more to what was happening, considering he could see clearer now.

The fear he usually felt in this moment was gone, replaced with a morbid curiosity as he felt his body move again, closer to the couple before him. Their mouths opened, soundless please leaving them as they no doubt begged for their lives. It was pointless, no matter how hard he fought or tried to imagen something else, there was nothing but death in his dream.

It was too quick, faster than what his mind could comprehend as he lurched forward, a knife burring into the female’s chest. The pain he felt as her nails dug into his arms as she grabbed for him was surprising, but it was something he could easily tolerate. Even as the male next to him lashed out, he barely felt the assault as he removed the blade and replaced it into the man’s throat. But what was surprising was the betrayal looking back at him.

Feeling his lips turn downwards in confusion, he let the body slump beneath him, watching as red-hot liquid mixed with that of the congealing mess beneath them. He looked down, rubbing his fingers against his palms as the blood rehydrated what had dried to his flesh, this was very different from what he usually saw. It was so vivid.

He was on his feet again removing the knife before he could consider it any longer, the dream not yet finished from what he could feel. Which was odd, this is around when he’d wake, right? A door opening before him caused terror and anxiety to flare up, waiting for someone to show themselves before screaming in fear. But there was none of that as he moved forward, just more bodies appearing at his feet, bleeding and dead.

Perhaps this was what he was waiting for, the conclusion to the dream so he could finally move on and live a normal life. As he stepped over a fresh corpse, a sound finally came to him. It wasn’t that of the squishing ooze of a blade piercing flesh, blood dripping, or the sound of his bare feet slapping against wettened wood.

He stalled, face scrunching in confusion, he’s never been shoeless in his dreams. He could always feel the weight of shoes as the blood soaked in through the tops, the ‘thunk’ of them hitting the wood under him, the squelch of the blood and soft organs being forced between the grooves of his shoe soles. Turning his head slowly to his right, he heard the sound again. It was hard for him to register, it seemed to echo here, but it grew louder and clearer the closer he came to it.

He feet halted, the feel of something soft and plush cushioning his wet feet as he stared at a back. It was small, a shirt covering its small frame as a design sat almost proudly between its shoulder blades. Opening his mouth to speak, he froze as the small figures head lifted, feeling the air force itself out of his lungs painfully as hot terror slammed into him.

“Is…is it because I didn’t go to sleep?” The voice from the tinny body was weak, trembling with fear as sobs threatened to cut their words off.

He stared blankly, confused by what he heard before lifting his head to look around. The darkness was still there, and his confusion began to give way to frustration until he could make out a large mass next to him. A bed came into view, its covers pulled back, a few stuffed animals laying haphazardly on its surface and on the floor where they fell.

The rest of the room that came into view grew familiar the more he looked, the shaky breath that left him startling him to blink, the room as crystal clear as his dream had been. Turning back to the figure, he flinched at the sight of his youngest sister, curled in a ball hidden next to her dresser with tears streaming down her face. Her hair still in their neat little braids, her night shirt with flower prints different to the design he had thought he had seen while in his dream.

“Yu…Yuki?” His voice was thick with sleep still, but his mind was wide awake as he took a step back, yelling out as his feet slipped out from under him.

Landing hard with a grunt, he gave a groan as his sister whimpered softly, still too scared to move as she clutched a stuffed bear to her chest. Looking down to his feet, all he could see was red, not just coating his feet but the floor as well. Frowning as he sat himself up, his eyes followed the little trail of blood to the door, paling at the sight of a body laying just in front of the bedroom door.

He knew who it was, every bell in his mind rang out that he knew who was lying face down, but he tried his best to play innocent. Like it couldn’t be who he thought it was. Shifting himself to his hands and knees, he shuffled forward to the motionless figure, gently touching their still warm shoulder. It was hard to see the blue of their shirt with it covered in blood, hair covering the worst of the wounds as it laid sprawled across their back. Hesitating, he slowly shifted the body. To check if they were still breathing, he convinced himself.

“Misaki-nee…” The sound Yuki’s voice behind him as he saw Misaki’s lifeless face hit him like iced water.

“Wh…what happened…?”

He knew, deep down what happened. What he had done, but he couldn’t accept it. Refused too in fact, he had locked himself in his bedroom after all!

A knock on the front door caused Yuki to cry out, clutching her stuffed bear tighter for comfort as he started with a gasp. It was still dark, there shouldn’t be anyone coming to the door at this hour, right? Another round of knocks, this time louder and faster.

“Police, open the door!”

Neither moved, both children holding their breathes out of fear. Because that’s all they were, all he was at the moment, a terrified child. Hearing an order to open the door or else the door would be forced open, he turned to look back into his sister’s room, then down the hallway to his parents’. Choking back bile at the sight of bodies, he stood shakily to his feet.

“Stay there, Yuki…they’ll come get you.” His voice was soft, too soft he thought for his sister to hear, but he heard her whimper a soft confirmation to what he said.

Walking slowly to keep from slipping, he made his way down the steps of his childhood home, feeling as if a pit should open beneath him and swallow him whole. He was in front the door before he remembered crossing the living room, bloodied hand raising slowly to the locks as the banging continued on the door.

With the click of the deadbolt, everything went quiet. Could this still be a nightmare? He couldn’t accurately say he remembered waking up, just blinking and seeing his sister before him. With a silent prayer for the door to be what is needed to wake him from this nightmare, he slides the chain lock free, twisting the knob and pulling the door open. Instead of seeing his ceiling, he was faced with police. One began to speak before paling, the three officers forcing themselves to stay where they were and not step back at the bloody sight covering his body.

“…My sister is upstairs…sh-she isn’t hurt.”

He didn’t listen to them speak, tuning them out instantly his heart began aching painfully as he became aware of what this meant for him, for his family. His wrists were bound behind his back in cuffs, officers and paramedics pushing past to go tend to his family as he was lead down the walkway in a blur. Turning his head as he was brought to a car, a frown pulled at his face, watching as police went in and out of his neighbor’s homes, ambulances pulling away silently after being loaded with bags.

“What happened?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking, even as something in the back of his head told him he didn’t want the answer.

Being sat in the backseat of the squad car, an officer with the badge named Saito looked to his partner confused, before turning back to him.

“You’re kidding, right?” He looked up to both men, the confusion clear on his face as his stomach flopped uncomfortably.

“He’s not kidding…” The other officer, Suzuki, spoke quietly as Saito gave a scoff. Kneeling, Suzuki waited until the boy’s eyes trained on him finally. “Did you not hear what we said on the way to the squad car…?”

A sigh pulled from both he and his partner as the boys’ head shook slowly, standing as he looked to the other man questioningly.

“Should we read him his rights again?” Both gave a shrug at Saito’s question.

Usually the suspect doesn’t check out like that, their aware of what’s happened. Placing his hands on his hips, both looked to the boy, to the fear and hope dancing in his eyes. They had proof, so why did he feel like he had the wrong person?

“Uchiha Itachi, your under arrest-“

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Holy hell, I really didn’t think I was going to be able to get this done. To be honest, it had been a source of minor anxiety, but I feel like the deadline really helped me be able to wright! 
> 
> A big shout out to Seth’s Kiss for keeping me going! You’ve helped out in getting me to sort my thoughts (the ‘dream’ segment of this would not have been written without your help!), and to keep me going and not giving up on this chapter. 
> 
> It is a one-shot, my first and possibly last? I’m not sure, I feel like I could have done more, but then I think I would have gone into the territory of “Oh this would be great as a second chapter!” (40 chapters later lol) This isn’t as gory as I was going for, but I think for being my first-time writing ‘horror’ so to speak, this turned out ok. 
> 
> Now for the reason as to why I’ve made a one-shot as opposed to attempting to work on my other fics. I’m apart of a Halloween writing event by Seth’s Kiss and NekoPantera over on Fanfiction.net (I know a few of them are going to post on here), and there’s a bunch of us involved! Each of us have written a one-shot, some in the Naruto fandom, some in Bleach, Fairy Tail, all sorts! I do ask that you look up their stories, their all amazing people, I’ve had the pleasure of talking to them a bit when I’m not trying to write or just being all around busy. So please give these people a read, and remember to comment on their stories, these lovelies deserve the reviews and love! 
> 
> Alastair, ArgentNoelle, AsgardianHobbit98, Babyvfan, Bewdofchaos, Brenna76, Caldrea Valhallis, Count Morningstar, CrimsonRaine87, DanceWithSeatbelts, DemonOfTheFridge, DemonShippingQueen, Desna, Drawingdownthemoon, Elleurs, Freith12, FreyjaBee, HisagiKirigakure, HoshisamaValmor, Iceburg-sanCPX, Jadeile, Kakashi97, Kamil the Awesome, Karkatsbabe, Kittyface27, Seth’s Kiss, Max333, Nazaki-Sama, NekoPantera, Nissa Fox, PhantomGypsy13, Phoenixreal, Potashimu, RayeMoon, Rhearenee, Sailor Silver Ladybug, SensiblyTainted, SerenaJones585, SereneCalamity, SesshomaruFreak, Shnuggletea, Sigan, Silirt, Silverstar, Spunky0ne, Starfire93, Tartarun, The Token, TheBadIdeaBears, TsukikoUchu, WhatIDesireEternally, Wrath of Vajra, Xache, Yatsu Narurasuke, and Yemi Hikari. 
> 
> Please be sure to read the warning tags before reading the stories. If there are things that trigger you, don’t force yourself. But keep in mind while we may have some Kinktober fics, we do have some darker ones like this that touch on more sensitive things. All the one-shots are being posted daily all through October, today is Naruto day lol. So, while there is 24 days full of stories to read, we still have stories being released. So again, I shall say my lovelies! Please look up these amazingly talented writers (another reminder to read the tags) and give them some love! 
> 
> Thank you all for reading, stay safe, stay healthy, and have a Happy Halloween.
> 
> LadySilverRaven


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